Whichever Way Home
by ComradeChicken
Summary: A series of events leads to the Soul Survivor having to team up with the Avengers.
1. Chapter 1

The chilly breeze bit Phoenix's face as she looked up to catch a glimpse at the TV hanging in the store. It had taken a while for her to figure out exactly where she and MacCready had ended up, but she knew it wasn't post-apocalyptic Boston. It wasn't even alternate dimension Boston, it was alternate dimension New York.

She had no idea what happened that caused the both of them to end up here. All she remembered was waking up in a semi-destroyed alleyway with her hired merc, or new friend, who did not recollect their arrival either.

It took a bit for them to figure out that they weren't in the right universe, dimension, whatever the fuck people wanted to call it. When they arrived, everything looked about the same as the Wasteland. Destroyed buildings, dead bodies. It was when MacCready took a sniper's position and watched people that he realized that the people here were just scared, and seemed all too harmless. Phoenix also noticed that the skyline did not match to her beloved home

Also, they didn't have these kinds of aliens back home. Not that Phoenix knew, anyway.

MacCready had a bit of an existential crisis. He was essentially saved from his own personal hell. However, the thought of being in a world unlike their own, one that Phoenix had lived in before, seemed to be all too much for the mercenary.

Phoenix had to think fast. They had too many weapons, too much armor, and too many drugs to be ordinary citizens. As much as she wanted to scream for help, anybody's help, she knew it was too risky.

Being a college graduate meant that Phoenix knew too much about how to pass the feds. The technology is this world was both lacking and far beyond that at home, but she soon figured it out. In the following weeks, she made some fake IDs for herself and MacCready, maintaining their names due to lack of previous criminal records. Although she soon found more casual clothes, she got some strange looks as she wandered about in her vault suit and was strapped in a bunch of combat armor. She also made herself some credit cards and managed to swipe some cash from destroyed ATMs. After swiping some cash, for the first time she caught sight of the news. They were detailing the attack that happened to occur at the same time that the pair arrived in their current predicament.

Apparently, this world had it's own group of super heroes. They defended the city from an alien attack. Funny, she had the world destroyed by nuclear fire and these people were trying to make a big deal out of some aliens. Yeah, they destroyed New York, but her entire planet was destroyed. Their whole predicament made her bitter, although she knew she was just jealous.

As she made it back to the pair's shady apartment, she started formulating a plan. When they first arrived on the new planet, she thought she never want to leave. Then, she thought back on what she'd done in the Commonwealth. She was the General of the Minutemen. She wholeheartedly believed Preston could take over if he truly wanted to, but she feared that if he were forced the position, he might crumble under pressure. She needed to go back. All those people believed in her.

She came into their apartment to find MacCready scoping out the window. He didn't turn when she opened the door. "You know, I know nobody will be trying to kill me today, but I have to know what's going on," He said, explaining himself without need.

"I think I want to try and go back," She said in reply, completely off track of the previous 'conversation.'

He turned away from the window to give her a sour expression. "You want to _what_?"

She put a hand to her temple. "I know, I know, and I won't make you come with. It's just...too many people over there are counting on me. I can't just abandon them. Not like this. But I don't expect you to walk right back into hell with me."

He sighed deeply. "I'm going to regret this, but I would go anywhere with you. It's not just them that believe in you,"

While this made her quite happy, it also pissed her off. "MacCready, please, don't do that to yourself. You could have a life here. You could know what it's like to be pre-war…"

He furrowed his eyebrows. "This is pre-war? Holing up in some dingy apartment, paranoid about every little thing because that instinct will never go away? I have no issues with stealing, boss, but I can't live like this. This isn't how pre-war people did it, and you know it."

"Some people did…" She tried to defend herself.

"But you didn't, did you?" He accused her. That stung. MacCready knew that bringing up her past was not her favorite topic, and she liked to actively avoid it. Now?

"I guess not," she said, and MacCready knew his mistake.

"Look, I'm sorry, it's just that I don't want to be here when this isn't my place to be. Not if you're leaving here. So, what's the plan?"

She felt better. Getting an apology out of him always brightened her mood, considering he didn't exactly believe in forgiveness. "I saw these super heros on the news. The Avengers, they like to be called. They are the ones who thwarted the attack. I think we might be able to ask them for help."

MacCready smirked. "And how are we going to do that?"

She smiled, teeth and all. "I guess we have to get their attention."


	2. Chapter 2

Phoenix was completely decked out in her vault suit and armor. She held the laser rifle in her hands. She was going to have to be careful here. She didn't want to hurt anybody, and she didn't want to get caught today, either. Although she loved her gauss rifle, it was a little too powerful for this situation. She did, however, want the Avengers to try and seek her out, so she wore no sunglasses. The large birthmark on her cheek should be indicative enough. Plus, she hoped that this earth had developed some sort of facial recognition software.

She stood in the bank, a place with many security cameras posted about. Somehow, she managed to walk right in. Nobody heeded her too much mind, which she found quite odd. This earth really was fucked up.

MacCready was on top of the next building over. She shouldn't need him, but she always liked to be prepared.

She pointed the rifle up and fired. This got people's attention. Like sacks of rocks, they all dropped to the floor, covering their heads. It had been about a month since the attack, but the repairs were hardly started and people were more than likely still scared from the battle.

"I am seeking those who claim to call themselves the Avengers," She bellowed in her Silver Shroud voice. "I wish to challenge them to battle,"

She switched back to her normal voice while aiming her gun at a banker. "Also, I want all the money in your drawer. Now."

The frightened banker was about to open their drawer when she heard sirens. "Shit!" She swore to herself. "Nevermind!" She yelled before sprinting out the door, then zig zagged between alleys. She and MacCready took special care to mark out her escape route before actually performing their stunt.

She was going to meet MacCready back at their apartment. It seemed like she was home free. For now.

* * *

"Sir, SHIELD has forwarded this file to you," JARVIS informed Tony, who was trying to calm his nerves with some whiskey. The tower was still in shambles, but there was progress.

He rubbed his face. "Show me," He commanded.

Soon enough, a holographic screen popped up in front of the billionaire's face. It was oddly high quality security footage from one of the high class banks downtown. Tony recognized it as one that he kept some of his money at. He soon realized that that was not the reason he was being alerted to the attempted burglary.

A strangely dressed woman entered the bank with a very obvious weapon. He wondered why people didn't react as soon as they saw it. When she fired a blast at the ceiling, that seemed to do it. Tony sat up straight. That was no ordinary gun. It reminded him somewhat of a hydra weapon, or even a weapon from the Chitauri. However, that beam was red. And red was his color, dammit.

"I am seeking those who claim to call themselves the Avengers. I wish to challenge them to battle!" She yelled into the bank in a strange voice. Then she pointed the gun at a banker before hearing sirens and running away. Somehow, they seemed to not catch her.

Tony wished he could chalk her up to be some kind of lunatic, but she had far too advanced weaponry to be considered that. And she was definitely wearing armor. Something told him it was a trap, but he was curious now. SHIELD was going to regret this.


	3. Chapter 3

He spent a few days trying to figure out who the woman was. He eventually came across a fake driver's license with the name Phoenix. It was strange, however, when he looked for the address on the card, a Sanctuary Hills located in Massachusetts, he found nothing. He searched deeper to find her name on an apartment rental right in downtown New York. She had cosigned with a Robert MacCready. That brought up a whole new dilemma. Who was he?

But because Tony Stark is an arrogant bastard, he decided to just wing it. He showed up at the labeled apartment with minimal armor with him. Of course, he came prepared with a bulletproof vest, but he wasn't sure if it would fall flat, considering they wouldn't see the glow of his arc reactor.

When he knocked on the door, the woman almost immediately answered, and she was decked in the same outfit as she was at the bank. Was she expecting him this soon? Perhaps so. His stomach dropped and he prepared for the worst.

"Who are you?" She asked, honestly confused.

This, Tony was not expecting at all. She wanted to fight the Avengers, didn't she? "Uh…" Tony seemed to be at a loss for words. Whatever he was expecting, it wasn't this. "Tony Stark? Billionaire? Pretty famous."

"Tony Stark...can't say I've ever heard of you,"

"Iron man?"

"Iron-Oh! You're an Avenger, right?"

Tony could only nod. Who was she?

"Amazing, I didn't think you'd find us this quickly. Did you come alone? Seriously? Do you know how dangerous I am?"

No way was this woman scolding him for trying to find her. She specifically asked for them to find her, and now she seemed surprised that they did.

"Honestly, I didn't think you'd find me that fast. In fact, I can't believe you tried to find me at all,"

"Don't scare him away," A man said as he rounded a corner. He also wore strange clothes. They seemed to be hundreds of years old, and they were simply rags at this point. However, he did have sniper rifle strapped on his back, and plenty of packs on him. He was even adorned with bullets on this pant leg.

"Right, right. My name is Phoenix, although I'm sure you already know that. I'm sorry to say that I completely lied to you. I just want your help."

Tony froze. His instincts actually paid off for once? "Maybe we should talk about his more behind closed doors," He suggested.

"Oh, yeah, I keep forgetting that people actually still live here," She said, which seemed quite odd to Tony. But he had to admit, his interest was peaked.

Once the door was closed, he crossed his arms. "So who are you exactly? Why do you need our help?"

She thought to a moment. "Okay, so the day those aliens came down and you guys had that battle, MacCready and I woke up in an alley. Neither of us have any memory as to how we got there. Soon enough, we figured it out. This isn't our universe. In fact, we're from Boston. No idea how we ended up here."

Tony needed time to process this. The crazy woman didn't want to fight. She wanted help, because she and her partner were stuck in the wrong universe with no idea how they got there. He had to admit, he would be going a lot crazier than she was at the moment.

"So where are you guys from, then? How did you figure out you weren't in the right universe?" Tony wanted to observe this phenomenon. Perhaps he could gain a bit more fame if he discovered gateways to parallel universes. The world was his oyster, so to speak.

"It didn't take us too long. But long enough. See...uh...in our world, everyone went the hell after a nuclear war two hundred years before. I was living before the bombs dropped, was cryogenically frozen for that period, woke up, and had to face hell. The world never really recovered. And that's where I met MacCready. That's your basics."

"You get to tell him your frozen-in-a-vault-for-two-hundred-years story but you won't let me tell mine?" MacCready pouted.

She playfully slapped his arm. "Nobody cares about your cave fungus," She said. He gave her a crooked smile that meant much more than Tony could ever understand.

"So why do you want to go back?" Was Tony's only logical answer. He really didn't know what to do in this kind of situation.

"Because I have people depending on me." Was her simple, but powerful reply.

Tony nodded. "I think I can try and help you with your problem,"

XXX

Phoenix and MacCready stood side by side at the top of Stark Tower, which was soon to be the Avenger's tower. Tony took the liberty to pour himself another drink. Instead of asking the pair if they wanted one, he simply poured two more glasses. He then meandered his way over and stood behind them. Perhaps they enjoyed the view. Maybe they were scoping it out. He wasn't sure.

"The last time I was in a skyscraper this high, I was as Trinity. Barely made it out of there with my life. Damn super mutants," Phoenix commented.

"I'm actually happy I didn't go on that trip with you, boss," MacCready commented.

Phoenix chuckled. "And now you get to constantly have Strong breathing down your neck about the milk of human kindness."

MacCready groaned. "You should take him out more."

She paused, wistfully looking out the window. "Yeah, I suppose I should."

Then, in sync, the two of them turned around to face him. "What next, Mr. Stark?" She asked.

He motioned for them to follow him to the bar, and they gladly followed and took the drinks that he poured for them. "First, I need to know everything. Starting with you," He said, raising his glass towards Phoenix.

She smirked. "About me? I was just a lawyer with a suburban home who happened to be thrown into an age of nuclear waste."

Tony wasn't impressed. "Love the poetry. Yes, I know it sucks, but that's not what I'm asking. You were a lawyer?" Phoenix noticed he was starting a tape recording.

"Yeah, I was a lawyer. Married young. Had a child named Shaun. It was a beautiful October morning in the year 2077. When I was playing with my baby, the sirens went off. We ran for the vaults, glorified shelters. Turns out that Vault-Tec were sick bastards who wanted to experiment with humans. My vault turned out to be one that experimented on cryogenically freezing unsuspecting civilians. About...sixty years ago I briefly woke up to see my child kidnapped and my husband murdered. Woke up once again about a year ago to the wasteland as the sole survivor of my vault. I searched for my husband's killer, killed him, then slowly figured out where my son was. Turned out that I completely disagreed with him and ended up murdering him. I met MacCready some time before that and hired him as my personal mercenary slash bodyguard."

Tony looked horrified. "You murdered your own son?"

She shrugged. "I know it sounds awful, but a lot of people died at his hand. I couldn't live with that."

"And what's that, on your arm?" he asked.

"It's my pip boy. Basically my personal portable computer. Can keep track of my inventory, health, has an internal GPS, and can even serve as a geiger counter."

"So it's almost like a cell phone. Interesting. And you said the wasteland, and mentioned super mutants?"

"Right, so when the bombs dropped, after two hundred some years the animals had to adapt to radiation. So you had your crabs, Mirelurks, who are now giant and deadly. Then you have your bears, Yao Guai, who are basically the same. Then there's your scorpions, Radscorpions, who are also now giant and deadly. You have your dogs, mongrels. You have your roaches, radroaches. And a bunch of other things. And then, there's your ghouls. They were people, now the ferals are just zombies. Some ghouls still have the same mind, but most are just...gone. And crazy. But then, after that, there was this virus. The FEV. Turned out it was the worst possible idea. One issue that created was the super mutants. They're kind of like the Hulk. Except...only with slightly more mental capacity, a condescending attitude, and an affinity with guns. The second issue is the deathclaws. You would think a radiated chameleon would be easy to handle, but you'd be wrong. Deathclaws live up to their name. Giant claws, giant horns, giant body, and they hate everybody."

Tony's nose was wrinkled in disgust. "Sounds like a shit hole," He took another large swig of his drink before tilting it towards MacCready. "And you?"

MacCready looked slightly surprised that he was being called on. "My story isn't that exciting. I grew up in the Capital Wasteland, which is just DC. Lived in Little Lamplight, a cave for kids who had to kick out anybody who was an adult. Called them mungos. I was the mayor for quite a while so I know a bit of what was actually going on. See, we lived on the fungus in the cave, and we didn't have enough to go around, so we couldn't have any adults around. We couldn't afford to feed them. Well, with the exception of one lady. I let her in, because she saved some kids from some slavers at paradise falls. She said she wanted into the vault that was connected to the cave, so I let her. I can't tell you what happened in there, but it wasn't good. I know there were super mutants there, so it wasn't easy. But she lived, because she came back. She told me she found some holotapes from when the bombs dropped. Little Lamplight started because a group of school kids were on a school trip when they dropped. They didn't really know what happened, but when the adults all tried to leave and find out what happened, they never came back. There were only the kids left. When I grew up, I went to Big Town. Found a girl and also had a son. She died. Long story short, I found Phoenix and she helped me with my own issues."

"So what is the last thing you guys remember before ending up here?"

"I feel like I'm being interrogated by Valentine here," MacCready commented.

"That's the issue, we don't really remember. I think...we might have been heading to Diamond City to trade. We must not have made it, because I still had the water I was going to sell." She answered.

"We probably made it to the wreck of the USS Riptide." MacCready added.

"Maybe there was something aboard? Maybe it was aliens again?" Phoenix toyed.

"Aliens again?" Tony asked.

"Yeah, I met an alien. A lot different that the ones here." She dug around in her sack for a bit before showing Tony a weird pistol. "Snagged this one from one. I'm out of ammo, but I think I can modify it to fit regular energy cells."

"Well, I'm not sure how much I can help you, but year and location help. I've already been looking into inter-dimensional travel, so I guess this is like the next step for me. A challenge. Feel free to stay in the tower as long as you like. I have some spare bedrooms down a floor. It could be a long time before this actually happens, though." Tony ended the recording.

Phoenix gave a small smile. "We understand, and are grateful for your help."


	4. Chapter 4

The next few months, the pair tried to stay low. They anxiously watched as Tony was almost killed from the Mandarin, and how Shield was derailed due to some neo nazi group. They even heard talk from London, and the battle that went on there. As much as Phoenix was eager to jump up and help, she had to remind herself that this wasn't stuff she exactly understood. MacCready would comfort her as much as he could.

Eventually, the Avengers had to get the band back together when they found out where Loki's scepter was at. It was quite the awkward situation when the whole team came back to the tower for the whole party. Sure, they'd all been in and out at some point, but Phoenix and MacCready never showed themselves. They thought the party was over, and that was their mistake. They'd wandered out to raid the bar to drown themselves away, but were stopped short when they saw the group chatting it up. Slowly, each member became considerably defensive. Even if the two of them were dressed fairly normally for the universe they were currently in.

When Stark noticed the, he stood up. "I'm sure you'd all like to know about the elephant in the room…"

"What the hell is this, Tony? Are you sheltering people now?" Steve interrupted.

"I...uh...I'm helping them. They threatened us at first and then they blew me out of the water so now I'm helping them get back home." Tony turned to Phoenix. She crossed her arms, a small smirk on her face, waiting to see how Tony handled this one. "They're...from a different universe?"

The group immediately started an uproar. "You didn't tell anybody about this?" Steve asked. Thor was bellowing something about distrust. Natasha was scowling, but Phoenix had a feeling she was displeased at her group, and not Tony.

"Shut up!" Phoenix yelled. The group, however much irritated, was surprised by her sudden outrage and quieted down.

"Anyway, Bruce and I have been working on something for a while. We're not quite there yet, but we're offering them a place to stay in the meantime." Tony finished his explanation. Phoenix took the opportunity to explore the expressions of the heroes as well as her own partner. The Avengers had a mix of confused and understanding faces. MacCready himself had an analytical expression on his face. They pair weren't entirely sure where this was going, so he was studying everything. The weapons each person had on them, escape routes, and even the distances between him and them. He was too close. His tightened his hand around a concealed 10 MM.

"So now you throw me under the bus? This was all Tony, I'm here because I like the prospect of studying parallel universes." Bruce defended himself.

"But we're not here to cause any trouble. Believe me, this is one hell of a nice vacation," Phoenix spoke up.

Steve put his hand up, with a slightly frustrated look on his face. "Wait just a minute. So, you're telling me that you two are from a different universe? How long have you been here, and where are you from?"

"We've been here since the aliens came down and destroyed the city," MacCready answered. "I'll defer the second half of that over to my boss."

"Ah...okay. So imagine it's the year 2077, but your world still feels like the 50s and 60s. But you have robots, so that's cool. Except you're at war with communist China. It's a beautiful October morning, and that's when the atomic bombs drop. Not just in Boston, or New York, or whatever. It's everywhere. Everything is destroyed, animals and some people mutate because of the radiation. 210 years later. That's where we're from."

"You've been here since the attack on New York? And everything after?" Thor asked, who was now standing up.

"Why do you want to go back?" Natasha asked, taking a sip from her beer. She seemed relaxed, but Phoenix felt that the woman could pounce on her at any moment.

"Unfinished business," Was her only reply. How could she possibly explain her leadership in the Minutemen, her work in the Railroad, and her being a soldier in the Brotherhood of Steel. Then the Institute…

The Institute. Everything came back to the Institute.

"That's what we were doing last. Stark, you better listen up. MacCready, the Institute. What do you remember?"

"Uh...you mean the boogeymen? Also where your son was? Didn't you get kicked out?"

"And then we went back."

MacCready furrowed his eyebrows. "And we rigged up their reactor."

"And we were on Mass Fusion when we detonated the damn thing." She pulled up her pip-boy and pointed to the courser chip installed in it. "And I never removed the damn relay chip. This is my fault. But if this thing pulled _us_ here…"

"Then all of the coursers are probably here too. Holy hell, we just fucked up a ton of shit." MacCready said.

"Language," Tony whispered. Steve rolled his eyes.

Phoenix scowled. "This isn't a game. They haven't killed anybody, so obviously they aren't receiving any commands, and they don't see everybody as a threat, so that's good. But they're deadly, and they need to be dealt with. Maybe I can find X6-88, if he isn't pissed off about me destroying the Institute."

MacCready snorted. "He hasn't killed you yet."

"I haven't exactly been public."

Then came the screeching. Everybody's hands went to their ears as they witnessed a battered machine walk into the room. It hobbled it's way over near Phoenix and MacCready, who cautiously backed up. "Maybe it's time you stopped hiding in the shadows. Show them who you really are." It was strange, the voice in the robot. It seemed like it had only recently awoken from a very long sleep. Then, of course, it's voice changed. It became more metallic, and slightly more condescending. She would recognize it from anywhere. "First you kill me, muddle with my memories, and then bring me over here."

Kellogg. Of fucking course. Her anger overcame her, her memories of what he'd done took control again. She rushed forward, grabbing the robot by the neck and pinning it to the nearest wall. "When will you finally die?"

The machine laughed. She half expected Kellogg to fade, much like he did with Valentine. "You thought the Institute wouldn't put a fail-safe into their tech? I may be physically dead, but you were arrogant enough to think that was it."

She grinded her teeth. "Shaun...Father. We wanted you dead. As did everyone else. This is an unforeseen setback."

"You say that like you didn't murder everyone there. Was it satisfying? Pressing a button that would ultimately end the life of hundreds? You barely lifted a muscle. And your own son…"

She pressed her fingers harder into the already decomposing robot. "Remember what I said before I killed you? Here, I'll repeat it for you. When I die, I hope I go to hell so I can kill you all over again. I guess we're in hell, huh?" She finished before ripping the robot's head off. The light faded from it's eyes as it laughed, and eventually died.

When she turned around, she saw that everyone was in defensive positions. She knew she shouldn't do it, but she couldn't contain herself. She stormed up to Tony while pulling out a plasma pistol from the back of her coat. Surprisingly well concealed. She rested the barrel on his chest, and that's when the Avengers started towards her. Tony, however, held up his hand.

"You sure fucked up Tony. What were you fucking around with? Things you don't understand?

That _psychopath_ kidnapped my son, killed my husband, and killed many more people before that. And you put him in a _robot_? God, if that was in your system? We're fucked. He can control those coursers. Maybe some of them will listen to reason, but for the most part we're completely, absolutely fucked."

Tony swallowed hard. "I'd looked into some of the files on your pip-boy. Hell of a time working out how to convert the files, but I figured it out. I didn't know you had a sentient murderer on your pip-boy, or I wouldn't have done it. I really would have liked to know that, actually, before you let me take a look at it."

Phoenix's face dropped, and she collected herself a bit. She lowered her pistol before slipping it back into her coat. She brought her hands up to her face, at a complete loss of what to do next. "God. I didn't even know. Fucking...never ends," She concluded, slipping to the ground. MacCready rushed forward and put a comforting hand on her back. She shook her head slowly. "I guess this is our problem now. First, we need to find X6."


	5. Chapter 5

"Tony, that plan almost killed you and Pepper," Phoenix said.

"Not to mention completely destroyed one of your homes," Natasha added.

"But it worked, didn't it? Plus, we're not exactly hoping for safety here." Tony defended himself.

Phoenix put her hands to her temples. "What the fuck do I even say? 'Oh hey there. Don't worry about this if you're a normal New Yorker, I just want the attention of all the robots from another universe. I'm here!'"

"No, it won't be like that. With that courser chip in your pip-boy, I can re-route a signal to go directly to any of these coursers without any public interference."

MacCready sat on the chair next to her with his feet resting on the table. "Why the hell not? We can overpower them, easy."

"We have to take into consideration the fact that we have a lot of collateral damage to work with. While I would love to take them all out with a mini nuke, I can't risk setting off a bomb in the middle of a heavily populated state that doesn't include ghouls, muties, raiders, or even gunners. These are just normal people. Not to mention the radiation damage that would cause."

"I'm not talking about our weapons. We have fucking superheroes on our side. Plus, your gauss rifle isn't some cheap weapon you can find on the side of the road, and that won't cause civilian casualties."

"That's true. The Avengers will be behind your back." Steve commented, although he didn't seem too thrilled about the situation.

Phoenix pulled the microphone Tony set on the table towards her. They were in some abandoned bunker that Steve knew about. The majority of the place was blown to hell, but one building survived. Her eyes glanced up to Tony, who flicked a switch and nodded at her. They were live. Everyone went quiet.

"If this transmission is successful, then I am talking to every courser whose previous home, the Institute, was taken from them. Yes, I am Shaun's mother, and I am here to tell you the Institute is gone. And I was the one to do it. I presume you can track my current location. I will be waiting, but I won't go down easy. Transmission over." She finished. Tony flipped the switch.

"I'll set it on repeat," He explained, fiddling with some mechanics attached to the microphone. Already, the Avengers were preparing for battle. Clint was tuning his bow and checking his arrows, Natasha was loading her pistols, Steve looked still, but had his shield in his arms. Thor seemed completely relaxed, but his hammer was resting on the table before him. When Tony finished, he stepped back into his own armor. Phoenix never could get it out of her head how much it reminded her of Power Armor. Finally, MacCready moved out to a sniper's position to try and pick off anything he saw. She prepped her gauss rifle.

"With respect, ma'am, that was stupid." Came a voice that made Phoenix jump. She turned around to find X6 in the middle of the room, all too relaxed. The Avengers were turned to him, already in a hostile position.

"X6? How the hell did you get here so fast?" Phoenix asked, genuinely surprised.

"I've been tracking your whereabouts for over a year now. In addition, your place of residence is lacking security. I suggest you remove yourself from the location before your message is tracked here."

"So...you're not mad?"

There was an ominous silence as X6 thought about his answer. He had no emotion on his face, so it was quite frightening to not know what the synth was thinking. At least Valentine and Curie had the decency to pretend. "At first, I was deeply unhinged with anger for your personal betrayal to your own son, but upon thinking of our past travels in the Commonwealth, I started to understand why you did what you did. I cannot hate you for doing it, considering it was done out of necessity for the protection of the people of the Commonwealth."

Phoenix relaxed. "Wow. That means a lot to me, X6."

"Don't thank me yet. You still signaled to every courser your location, and they will not be as forgiving as me."

"And then there's Kellogg…" MacCready added.

"Kellogg?" X6 tilted his head ever so slightly. "I was under the impression that he was dead."

"Well, you guys never really made it easy for me to find the Institute, huh? Part of his consciousness must have been saved in that piece of brain matter I found on his body."

"And he made it over here? But if he's without body, he's out of luck."

Tony coughed, and the rest of the Avengers shot daggers with their eyes at him. "That may be an issue. He _may_ have taken over the body of one of my damaged robots."

X6 returned his gaze to Phoenix. "Is this robot synth-like, or protectron-esque?"

She shrugged. "Maybe assaultron level?"

He shrugged. "Coursers were instructed not to take anybody's orders but yours or Fathers. He has no power over them. I am, however, unsure if the coursers will attack you or not. For now, it is wise to take evasive action."

"He's right. If we can escape without any interference, we'll have more time to track Kellogg. This is just leveling the playing field." Steve added.

Phoenix nodded, and X6 escorted them outside of the building.

* * *

After weeks of searching, they finally came across something. Unsurprisingly, the Avengers and co found themselves smack dab in the middle of Boston, on top of the tallest building. Bruce managed to show up, but the Hulk only made an appearance after the building was evacuated. The Avengers were getting flashbacks to the Battle of New York. The spinning machine which Kellogg had plopped on top of the building seemed to mirror the one Loki had the Tesseract encased in.

Kellogg chuckled. He was still in the body of one of the damaged robots, however, which told Phoenix that he'd spent his time working on this one machine. "Thanks for the data, Stark. I may not have the brains you do, but I've worked with a few difficult computers in my time. Plus, you did most of the work for me. You know what this does?"

Phoenix raised her eyebrows. "Something tells me it's not to make rainbows."

"It's to take us back. Maybe with some collateral damage. Who gives a shit?" He joked. He seemed mentally unsettled, which seemed strange for a robot that lacked a brain.

"So, you've figured it out? Stark and Banner, two of the most intelligent people in this world, and you beat them to it?" She asked incredulously.

He tilted his head, a strange move for a robot. "I no longer need sleep. I have no distractions. That's the difference between you and I, _vault dweller_ ," He spat her nickname. "I am on another level than you. You could have had it, too. You could have. But you blew it all up. Completely destroyed it."

"Like I had a choice!" She screamed, then tried to tone herself down. This was not the time to go over her emotional baggage.

As if he answered her thoughts, he spoke. "Too late," He almost whispered before starting the machine.

It was too surreal. Too white, too bright, something she hadn't seen in a long time. Not since before the war. Not since...not since they appeared on this Earth.

Then came the pain. Incredible, incredible pain. She screamed, but no sound came out. Finally, after the white, everything was black


	6. Chapter 6

She woke up on the ground. The air smelt disgusting, a smell she knew too well. She shot up, gasping for air. Dust flew into her mouth and she coughed. A quick glance around her confirmed her suspicions. This was the wasteland. She wasn't sure where, though. In fact, this might not even be the Commonwealth. What if she ended up in the Capital Wasteland, or worse-somewhere in the NCR.

Even worse, she had an anxious Captain America trying to figure out where the fuck he was.

And no MacCready

And no other Avengers.

Well, fuck.

* * *

"Where are we?" Steve asked as Phoenix slowly got to her feet. Somehow, she was calm about this. Perhaps it was the thought of reaching her goal. This is what she wanted, right? To be back home?

But it didn't feel right. Maybe because she didn't have MacCready with her, maybe because the other Avengers were probably also here. Could also be because there was a murderer on the loose, but since when was that new in this universe?

"This is the wasteland. Can't tell you which one, but we're in my universe now. I'm sorry." She wasn't sure what else to tell him. He was friendly enough, but it wasn't like they were able to form a friendship in the short amount of time they knew each other. She shrugged her gauss rifle onto her shoulder. She looked at her pip boy, and found that this was not a place she'd been before. Her stomach sank. "I suggest we find the nearest settlement. Then I can figure out where we are. I've mentioned Boston to all of you, everyone should be able to make it. If MacCready or X6 are with any of the other Avengers, that's where they would go, too."

She shoved her plasma pistol into Steve's hand. "It's not much, but you'll need something. I assume you know how to use it. Besides, this is Captain America we're talking about," She said, giving him a crooked smile.

Steve showed a hint of a smile, something that Phoenix had never been able to procure out of him. She gave him one solid punch on the chest, before walking off into the direction she thought would suit them best. Steve followed, something about his instincts telling him to be a soldier and follow orders.

* * *

From what MacCready had glimpsed in some of those pre-comic books, sometimes people would wake up on a girl's chest. An awkward encounter would occur, but in the end the guy would end up with the girl.

That's what was happening with MacCready.

Kind of.

He ended up on top of Clint Barton, who seemed a little uncomfortable with having MacCready taking a snooze on his chest.

"Oh God!" He shouted, shooting up from his napping position. He heard a chuckle, and looked to his left to find Tony Stark smiling at his phone. When he noticed MacCready staring at him sideways, he flipped the phone around to show him the picture of him completely passed out on top of a pissed Barton.

"What the heck, man?" He asked, his voice coming out at a whisper.

"Don't worry," Stark said, waving his hand. "This is only for my personal photo album."

"That's a little creepy, huh Stark?" Barton asked, pushing himself off the ground. MacCready's face was turning red, he could feel it.

"So, let me ask the golden question. Where are we, exactly?" Stark asked, turning to MacCready.

"The wasteland, I can tell you that," He said, looking around. His hand twitched, longing for his sniper rifle which was secured to his back. "Other than that, not a clue. We'll need to make it back to the Commonwealth. Boston. Whatever you want to call it."

Barton frowned. "Great."

* * *

Natasha didn't like waking up to find someone else watching her, which seemed to be her current state. She shot up, the movement causing her vision to blur in just the slightest. She'd learned not to be affected by that.

"You're awake," X6 said monotonously.

"I am," she answered, just as cold.

"You're probably wondering where we are. We're in the commonwealth. Only a couple hours from Diamond City. A good place to wait for the others."

Natasha nodded. Her ribs definitely felt bruised, but she wasn't going to let that stop her. Nor was she going to tell the robot.

They walked off, keeping a good space between them.

* * *

Kellogg was, by far, the unluckiest. Perhaps in his research he didn't know that much about the god of thunder or the Hulk, or he didn't care. Either way, he was in quite the predicament. Inter-dimensional travel usually can knock a human out cold. But Thor of Asgard was pretty used to this stuff, and even got a little adrenaline rush. And the Hulk...well, he just got more angry. And that anger surfaced when the green monster saw the robot that brought them there.

It was a second. Just one second for the monster to attack the robot. That was probably Kellogg's mistake.

On the Avenger's earth, Kellogg had access to an infinite amount of robots. He could easily transfer his conscience into another shell. Here? Here he had nothing. Perhaps his plan was to make more when he got here. So when the Hulk bellowed that awful, awful scream and brought his over-sized fists down on the robot, that was it.

It was over.

Kellogg was dead.


	7. Chapter 7

Steve squinted into the sun. Phoenix was used to walking long distances, and was barely tired, but she still felt dwarfed next to super soldier Captain America.

"Is that...Is that the Stratosphere?" Steve asked.

Phoenix put her hands on her knees. "What?"

Steve pointed into the distance. "That building. The Stratosphere?"

She squinted before she realized what she was looking at. Memories surfaced of parties, drinks, and too much gambling. It was a night with Nate. A party, where all the soldiers were celebrating. One last night before their deployment.

Phoenix's heart started beating faster. "No. That's the Lucky 38. Jesus Christ. It's going to take us months to get back to the Commonwealth."

She started towards New Vegas.

"Woah, don't we need to go back that way?" Steve asked, pointing behind him, towards the East coast.

She turned around. "Yeah. But unless you want to die, we need a caravan. I haven't been here, not in this time, but I've heard of some caravan companies this side of the coast."

* * *

MacCready found himself in an all-too-familiar area. "Dammit. At least north was a good direction to head."

"This is DC," Barton said, glimpsing the skyline. Although both men were prepared for the worst-they'd heard about this dimension-they still were shocked by the decimation that stood before them.

"It was DC. This is the Capital Wasteland. I'm sorry, we're going to have to take a detour. If I can get us to Megaton, I might be able to find someone to help us."

Stark put up his arm, distrust and exhaustion evident on his face. "You want to go around the whole of DC? Are you insane? That's going to set us back by days."

MacCready glared at him. "My wife died in this city, because there's so much evil shit lurking around in there. Plus, the main way of transport through the city is the goddamn endless Metro tunnels. Full of goddamn ghouls. No way. Not without Phoenix or Lacey."

Barton burrowed his eyebrows, but the men already started their detour. "Lacey?"

MacCready shook his head. "I'm not even sure if she's still alive, much less if she'd remember me. To many people, she was a hero. Everyone else? An enemy. She had a vendetta when she was just a kid, and it might have caught up with her. But I know that if she's still alive? She'll help me, and she would be living right in Megaton. First town she ever came across. That's what she told me, anyway."

"And what if she was lying? What if she's dead?" Stark asked, still grumpy. He would have loved to fly there. He was wearing his suit, too. But he didn't want to push the suit. It was starting to glitch on him already. Nothing major, just seconds where it stops working. Nothing noticeable to anyone but the wearer.

MacCready shrugged. "Then I get some closure. It's not like Megaton is completely out of the way. Plus, we can stop for supplies."

* * *

X6 and Natasha soon made it to Diamond City. X6 wasn't sure where Phoenix would be, but Diamond City was a destination for any commonwealth traveler. Even if they didn't see anything, they would soon hear something.

Natasha tried to keep her head down, blend in, but she soon found that she was too clean, and too well-mannered. X6 gave her a pocketful of bottle caps, which she soon figured out was currency. She got herself a 'new' outfit and an armful of food.

Soon, the two were accompanied by the presence of Thor and Banner, who seemed to have recently woken up. Surprisingly, Thor did not stick out in the crowd. Sure, he was much more attractive than a majority of the toothless, practically homeless settlers, but his armor was far from bazar. If anything, it was a little too clean.

Banner, on the other hand, seemed like he was born here. After almost an entire day as the Hulk, Banner was worn out. His shirt was missing, and his trousers were torn every which way. Natasha got a cheap shirt for the scientist to wear, but did nothing about the pants. As long as Banner wasn't flashing anyone, and the pants weren't falling off, Natasha considered it acceptable.

X6 procured a key which lead to a simple yet spacious building. He explained that Phoenix bought it so that she could spend some nights around the city, but Nat was thanking the lord that Phoenix was too lazy to walk home sometimes.

Now, they played the waiting game.


	8. Chapter 8

Phoenix was walking, paying attention to the growing city on the horizon when she was stopped by the arm of Steve Rogers. His eyes darted, trying to find something. Eventually, they focused, and as he dropped for cover, he dragged Phoenix with him.

Now, Phoenix wasn't in the army like her deceased husband, but she had picked up a few things after living in the post apocalypse. That being, when your only ally thinks an enemy is nearby, you follow their moves.

Or, if you're Strong, you run right into battle. Thank god Steve Rogers was not like Strong.

Slowly, Steve peeled apart the leaves of a long dead bush and pointed through it. His finger lead to Phoenix's absolute favorite wasteland creature. A deathclaw.

She sighed. What a pain in the ass. They were so close to Vegas, now this bullshit? She pulled her gauss rifle off of her back and aimed through the bush. She pulled the trigger back, allowing for the magnets in the gun to charge the gun. The nixie tubes flashed as the energy built, then stopped at a crisp 99. She aimed at the belly of the deathclaw, one of the few weak spots of the creature.

She nudged Rogers to the side, indicating that he needed to scoot over, before she let go of the trigger. The gun exploded, sending sparks of electricity out around it as it fired its main projectile. Fortunately, Phoenix had fantastic aim and hit the deathclaw right in the chest.

The first unfortunate event was that their bush was now on fire. The second being that the deathclaw was now _extremely_ pissed off. It spread its claws out wide, roaring with a shock wave that almost took Phoenix off of her feet. It was time for some quick thinking.

They would never outrun the damn thing, they had to kill it now. While she had Captain America on her side, she was pretty sure he wouldn't be good for shit in this fight. She glanced behind her, noticing the rusty car. It still had an intact engine. She prayed to god, hoping that this was not how she was going to go. She could imagine it now.

 _Idiot Vault Dweller, Sets Car on Fire and Dies in Explosion_

God, that sounded terrible. So she did exactly that. She didn't let the rifle charge, just a quick shot at the engine. As she hoped, it almost immediately burst into flames.

She grabbed Steve by his arm and ran the opposite direction.

"Can we outrun that thing?" yelled Steve. Phoenix could barely make him out over her heart pounding.

"Hell no!" She answered. "But we can try blowing it to hell!"

Just as she finished yelling, the car exploded into a fiery mushroom cloud. When she glanced back, she could see the head of the deathclaw fly one way, the body the other. She stopped, and let go of Steve-had she been holding onto him this whole time?-and pounded her fist in the air.

"Fuck yeah!" She yelled, victory coating her demeanor.

"Impressive," Said a metallic voice. Phoenix spun around, only then noticing someone leaning against one of the canyon walls. They wore a strange helmet/mask object, and wore a long, dark trench coat. Looked like someone trying to sell drugs.

Phoenix crossed her arms after swinging her rifle onto her back. "I'm sorry, who are you?" Her voice quivered only a little bit. This was an NCR ranger, she knew from an outfit she found at some caravan post west of Sanctuary. The old lady who was selling, a decrepit former vault dweller, if she was telling the truth, insisted that Phoenix know about the former tension between the NCR and Caesar's Legion before the Second Battle of Hoover Dam. Phoenix honestly didn't give a single fuck until this very moment.

They reached up to remove their helmet. Phoenix was surprised when she was greeted with a soft, feminine face as her long, black hair cascaded down her armor. "Most people around here call me the Courier. And I've got to say: that was the coolest fucking thing I've seen all day."

* * *

They only came across a few molerats on their way to Megaton, and MacCready was only slightly jealous that Barton saw and shot them first. The trio walked over to the latest kill, and Barton kneeled down to collect his arrow. "God, these things are ugly," Barton mumbled.

MacCready scoffed, answering his rhetoric before they continued their journey. "Yeah, there's much worse things than that around here."

Finally, as they climbed their last hill, they caught a glimpse of Megaton. Tony scowled. "Are those old airplane parts?" He asked.

MacCready shrugged. "Sure?"

Stark controlled his desire to roll his eyes. Although he was raking in the cash, and was part of a global defense team, he still acted like a child sometimes.

When they walked up to the entrance, both Avengers were intrigued by the robot that greeted them. "Welcome to Megaton. Friendliest town around," The robot said, turning to the newcomers. It's frame rendered the robot slow, and it took several seconds for the robot to turn itself again. Stark tipped an imaginary hat.

MacCready stopped, then shifted his weight to one foot, waiting for the door to open. Eventually, with a loud roar, and a blast of the turbine, the door slowly slid upwards, revealing a second gate.

MacCready meandered forward. He'd been here a few times, right after he lost his wife. He found Lacey, and she gave him a small amount of closure. Not enough to live in the Capital Wasteland, but enough to leave it behind and focus on his life again.

He wasn't too surprised, however, when he found Lucas Simms waiting on the trio. He clutched his hands around his assault rifle, although MacCready doubted he intended to use it. It was just a power show. Besides, it looked almost like Stark just decided to meander in with some Power Armor.

Instantly, Simms recognized MacCready. Simm's stance loosened. "Well, well, well. MacCready. It's been awhile, huh?"

MacCready shrugged, a smirk on his face. "I guess it has been."

Simms pointed his gun at him. Accusingly. "Now I've heard some rumors, MacCready, and I'm hoping that they're either fake, or old."

MacCready sighed. He knew where this was going. "Word got around that you started running with the Gunners. Got a few witnesses, no names. Any arguments?"

MacCready glanced to the side. God, this town seemed to have grown in size. "You heard right. But I split. Decided that that wasn't the life for me. I've been running with a vault dweller. One a lot like Lacey."

Name dropping Lacey always seemed to work out in his favor around these parts of the wastes. Simms slung his rifle back onto his back, a smile stretching across his face. "Glad to hear it, MacCready. Lacey will be happy to see you again. And you two-" Simms said, pointing at Barton and Stark. "You keep out of trouble. We're not afraid to kill anyone who tries to harm our citizens. Stick with MacCready, and you might get a good word." With that, he turned around, beginning his patrol on the city again.

"Friendly guy, eh?" Stark asked. Both Barton and MacCready ignored the billionaire. MacCready took a sharp left once they were near the crater in the center of Megaton.

Stark did a double take. "Hey, not to cause any kind of _alarm_ around here, but was that a bomb? An atomic bomb? Just sitting in the middle of a town?"

MacCready waved his hand, focusing on climbing up the steep hill. "Yeah, it's not a big deal. It was deactivated ten years ago."

This didn't seem to satisfy Stark, but the genius was smart enough to know that MacCready didn't have much to say on the matter.

Eventually, the group came upon one of the many homes made out of scrap metal and plane parts. MacCready gave a few knocks on the door, warning the owner of the home that visitors were here, before letting himself in.

Although most things were the same, he noticed that there seemed to be more weapons adorning the walls of the home. He even saw that Lacey had completed her vault tec bobblehead collection. He smirked, remembering that Phoenix still hadn't found an energy weapons bobblehead, and that it was driving her insane.

He heard scratching just before seeing the dog racing up to him, and before being tackled. He thought he was being attacked, but quickly realized that the dog was licking his face. "Ugh, come on!" He said, pushing Dogmeat off of him.

Soon after, a woman slowly walked down the stairs. She was older now, probably around Phoenix's age. Her blonde hair was still pulled tight into a bun.

"Well, look at you, mungo. Came crawling back here for my company? And with guests, too?" She asked, ultimately threatening, but with a grin on her face. Dogmeat scrambled to be by her side.


	9. Chapter 9

Stark and Barton were uncomfortable, to say the least. Lacey had some nice furniture, for 2287, but Stark wasn't used to sitting on anything worth less that a few grand. Barton, on the other end of the spectrum, was not used to being in a small room with two strangers and one pompous billionaire. If it were up to him, he would be upstairs, only listening to the conversation.

Lacey had crossed her legs, letting Dogmeat crawl onto her couch with her. The three men all sat on the opposing couch, just a little squished. Stark at least had the decency to take off his armor.

"So what brought you to the Capital Wastes?" She asked, taking a sip from a quantum. Lacey considered seeing her old friend again a good enough occasion to indulge herself to one of the extremely limited radioactive sodas.

MacCready's fingers danced against each other. "It's a little hard to explain. After an explosion, my companion, Phoenix, and I were transported to a different dimension," At this, Lacey leaned forward. Dogmeat whined, as his pillow had suddenly abandoned him. "We just managed to get back. Albeit, separated, completely off target, and with a few guests," He said, gesturing to the two accompanying Avengers.

"That's pretty fucked up. Reminds me of when I was abducted by aliens." She said, leaning back again.

MacCready rolled his eyes. "You know that nobody believes you. That story is just too weird."

She tilted her quantum back before pointing her finger at him. "I told you I would take you up there! I'm still technically the captain."

He shook his head. "Sorry, I don't feel like getting drugged and left in a mirelurk nest for a joke."

Lacey chuckled. "Oh, MacCready, you know that I would leave you in a deathclaw nest, not a mirelurk nest."

As soon as the chuckles died down, the conversation turned serious again. "So, I'm sure you didn't just come here to play catch-up. You want my help."

MacCready gave her a sideways look. "Was it that obvious?"

Lacey shrugged. "Everyone wants me to help them. The question is, what do you want me to do? I barely could fix a water purifier, much less can I figure out the secrets of multidimensional travel."

"Maybe it's a little weird for a merc to ask, but I'd like to hire you. Help us make it to Diamond City, or anywhere near the Commonwealth."

She waved her hand. "For you? I'm not for hire, but I'll help you. I consider us good enough friends for this."

MacCready closed his eyes, relief flowing in his body. "Thank you."

Lacey jumped up, a devilish spark in her eyes. "But Fawkes is coming with."

MacCready's eyes grew, remembering how...chatty the super mutant liked to get sometimes. Lacey laughed, waving her hand. "No, just kidding. Fawkes would rather stay here. Especially if we're going somewhere where people don't know me that well. The Commonwealth isn't too friendly towards strangers, not after that synth fiasco I heard about, and I don't want him getting shot. But Dogmeat is coming."

MacCready nodded. "Okay. Dogmeat is okay."

Barton and Stark shared a look. Maybe everything would be okay after all. Maybe they would get killed by this eccentric woman.

* * *

Natasha was laying on one of the few couches in the house when there was a quick set of knocks on the door. She glanced at X6, who did not seem to be expecting the knock. Soon enough, she heard keys in the door. Thor walked down the stairs, hammer in hand. She grabbed her pistol and turned off the safety.

The door was pushed open by a lone man, wearing what looked like a revolutionary era costume. He had his laser musket, but did not have it in his hands. He seemed utterly shocked to find a random assortment of people in the house. His eyes finally landed on X6, and his body started to relax.

"X6?" He asked, his voice faint and cracking.

"Preston," X6 answered, his voice even and unchanging.

"Where...where is Phoenix?" He asked, his eyes darting around the room, only finding unfamiliar faces.

"Unknown. We found ourselves separated from the rest of the group, and have convened at this location."

Garvey's eyes dropped to the ground. "I'd heard reports of people coming in and out of this house. I thought...I thought it would be her," He asked, disappointment and sadness returning to his demeanor.

"Who, Phoenix?" Natasha asked.

Garvey paused for a moment. "Yes. The General. She's been missing for over a year. Most of the Minutemen quit looking after a month, but me? I believed that she'd be here…"

"Worry not. Dimensional travel doesn't always get it's exact target. She should have arrived on this earth at the same time as me and my companions." Thor answered. Garvey scowled, looking the god up and down, before slowly nodding.

* * *

"So what brings you to these here parts?" The Courier asked, a fake western accent practically dribbling from her words.

Phoenix trudged forwards. This lady seemed too energetic for this kind of situation, and seemed to find humor in her discomfort. "We're looking to hire a caravan. We need to make a journey, and the more people there are, the safer it is. You know how it gets."

"A caravan, eh? Well...you got the Crimson Caravan Company, but I'll be real honest with you. You don't want a caravan, you want a merc. Caravans can barely make it from one town to the next. How far do you two need to go, anyway?" She asked, bouncing in front of Phoenix, making her stop. Vegas shined bright behind the Courier.

"The Commonwealth." She answered briskly.

The Courier's mouth dropped open, more so in an excited smile rather than surprise. "Holy shit! Not many people can survive that journey! Well, I mean, there's me..."

Phoenix frowned. "You want us to hire you?"

The Courier fake coughed. "I mean, I didn't say anything like that…"

"But you insinuated the idea, right?" Phoenix accused.

"Big word mean nothing to mail girl," She answered simply, ignoring the question she could obviously understand.

Steve put a hand on Phoenix's shoulder. This was the first time in this encounter that Rogers had offered any kind of input. "Maybe it's a good idea," He said to her, not at a whisper, but not at a normal volume for conversation. Phoenix wanted to tell him to get his hand off her, and what did he know about this anyway? But she couldn't help feeling a sense of agreement in her stomach.

She sighed. "How much?"

The Courier beamed, before pinching of Phoenix's cheeks. "For you, doll? 500 caps for the both of you."

"Deal," Answered Phoenix, not wanting the price to raise. She took a bag off of her shoulder, finding a large amount of currency waiting to be spent. Phoenix dropped five small sacks into the outstretched hands of the Courier.

"Damn. You're pretty organized, too, aren't you?" The Courier said, listening to the sounds that the caps made in their bag as she shook them. She trusted the noise enough, apparently, and took no time to count the caps. "Alrighty, let's get out of here first thing tomorrow," She handed both of them passports that she'd fished out of her own sack. "You can stay at one of the casinos in town, but you'll need these to get to the strip. Be careful in freeside. I'll meet you two at the Lucky 38 first thing tomorrow morning."

As the Courier turned to start towards Vegas, Phoenix caught her arm and brought their faces close together. "If you bail on us," Phoenix started threatening the girl. "I will hunt you down and kill you."

The Courier simply smiled. "And if I find that you somehow cheated me out of my money, you'll find the same fate."


	10. Chapter 10

The Lone Wanderer, or more personally known as Lacey, met the trio outside of Megaton. Lacey had adorned herself in power armor, and Dogmeat was calmly and obediently sitting by her side. The trio, having had a restless night in Lacey's house, tiredly trekked with her.

"So," Tony asked, right after a large yawn. "How are we getting there?"

MacCready and Lacey both smirked, glancing at Stark. "Honey, we're walking," Lacey answered, a little sweeter than she usually was.

MacCready would have paid to see the look on Stark's face. He was lucky he got to see it for free.

* * *

It was quite unfortunate that it was Phoenix and Rogers who ended up in Vegas, where the residents and even low lifes still enjoyed gambling. The two prudes, however, were not as overjoyed at the prospect at gambling their hearts out. Phoenix, personally, wanted to explore the various places in Freeside before choosing an establishment for the night.

The Courier was right about Freeside being shady. At first, the two were offered to be escorted by an Elvis Presley impersonator, in which Rogers did not see as odd and Phoenix was completely baffled by. Despite this, Phoenix denied the offer, feeling confident in her own abilities.

However, about halfway through this strange neighborhood, some wastelander attempted to rob the two. Maybe it was because Rogers didn't seem that capable of defense, especially in his red, white, and blue suit, or maybe it was because Phoenix wore a vault suit. However, Phoenix always had her large gauss rifle on her back, and she had pretty heavy combat armor. It seemed, to say the least, idiotic. Phoenix easily blocked the pipe that was swung at her, then proceeded to swiftly swing her gauss rifle off of her back and into her hand, delivering a large blast to the wastelander's stomach. It wasn't enough to kill him, but it was enough to make him scream and clutch his stomach. Heads turned. They shouldn't mess with her or Rogers from then on out, but Phoenix reminded herself that these people might have been drunk or addicts, and that they still might be desperate enough to try. This was an inconvenience to Phoenix. She sighed.

Finally, the two came across a store dedicated to energy weapons, named the Silver Rush (One of her favorite casinos), to which Phoenix was overly fond of. She and Roger's weapons were taken before they could enter, but it was a short period of time she would be without her weapons, so she figured she could deal.

She was, to be frank about it, disappointed in the weapons. It wasn't like it was necessarily a poor selection of weapons, it was more due to the fact that they were very...boring. Nothing was new, or unique. It was the same stuff she could buy on the Prydwen, and the Brotherhood had it for cheaper. Besides, she had her gauss rifle, and she had more than enough ammo for the thing. Once she learned the recipe for ammo, she spent an entire two days creating some.

The Van Graff's however, quickly noticed her disappointment. She waved off their selling tactics, said her thank yous, and left. She got her weapons back quickly and in good shape, and left a tip for the bouncer. He seemed surprised, but it was hard to get pre-war customs out of her head. Steve probably didn't even notice anything odd.

'The sun was beginning to set, so the pair made their way to the gate to the strip. Phoenix found the robots guarding the gate to be odd, but Steve was awed. Although he had his technology over on his reality, he'd never seen something so...Howard Stark-esque in a long time. This awe was short lived when one of the robots quickly rolled over, asking about passports. Phoenix grabbed them from her pocket, showing them to the guard.

Phoenix was elated when the robot let them through, and then amazed when they stepped through the gate. This post-nuclear war earth was not full of much color, but it was like a bright light hit her in the face when the gates opened for the two. Her eyes were drawn to the Lucky 38, what Rogers had called the Stratosphere. These casinos...she remembered being here before. Now she was a stranger. She always seemed to be a stranger these days.

They meandered down the Strip, eyeing the wastelanders who thought themselves above everyone else, and gawking at the bright lights. Eventually, a sign caught Phoenix's eye. It was odd, because the building itself was tiny. Still, Vault 21 had the vault dweller thinking. "Let's check this out," She mumbled to Rogers.

"It doesn't look too grand," Steve wearily answered.

"Exactly. It's an underground bunker, not meant for everyone to find. I want to know what it's doing on the Strip," She answered. Phoenix never really explained the vaults in detail to any of the Avengers. She didn't have much reason. Now, he was going to find out, first hand.

As soon as the pair entered, they were greeted by a young lady. "Welcome to the Vault 21, I'm Sarah and - oh my, is that a vault suit?"

Phoenix lightly smiled. "Yes. I was a vault dweller, once upon a time."

Sarah smiled wide. "Wow! I don't usually meet other vault dwellers. You were from...111? I haven't heard of that one. Sorry."

Phoenix shook her head. "You wouldn't have. It's a small one from the Commonwealth."

"Holy shit! What are you doing all the way out here in Vegas?" She asked.

"We're just trying to get back, honestly. You said this was a gift shop?" Phoenix changed the topic.

"Gift shop and hotel." Sarah furthered.

"Hotel? I'd like to rent two rooms, then, if that's the case," Phoenix said. Sarah smiled again.

"Of course! That will be twenty caps," She said. Phoenix dug the spare change out of one of the packs on her armor, then passed the caps to Sarah. In turn, Sarah gave the pair two key cards. "Enjoy your stay!"


	11. Chapter 11

It was a week before Stark, Barton, Lacey, and MacCready found their way to Diamond City. There was only one major encounter on their way, and it happened while they had just entered Boston. It wasn't anything unexpected, but it was unfortunately not what MacCready or Lacey were hoping for.

"Hey, you little bitch!" yelled someone. Out of the corner of her eye, Lacey could see it was a raider. It had to be, considering how stupid they usually were.

Lacey groaned, slowly turning to the raider as he came up to her. "The fuck do you want?"

"Is he stupid?" She heard Barton whisper to MacCready.

'What do you got under that Power Armor, huh?" He leaned in closer. "Pretty as your face?"

Lacey took this opportunity to strike him in the face with the side of her laser rifle. He reeled backwards, arms spinning. When he wiped his face, he inspected the blood that smeared itself onto his hand. He grinned before whipping out his own pipe pistol and yelling into a communicator on his shoulder. Soon enough, a large number of raiders had converged on the area.

It was a long shot to call this encounter a challenge. The team had killed, or at least seriously maimed, all the raiders within five minutes. It was, however, a rude reminder of the world that they were now inhabiting.

After another half hour trek, they made it to Diamond City. "I've never been here before," Lacey admitted. "I've been in the area, but I've never actually come to Diamond City."

Once they were let through the gate, MacCready stopped to let the three newcomers gape at the large city built into a baseball field. Once they made it to Home Plate, they were met with warm welcomes.

* * *

Phoenix tried to get up first, but found that she had been beaten by Rogers, who didn't seem to sleep at all. He never mentioned anything regarding the situation, but Phoenix felt that anxiety was the culprit. Although Rogers had gone through a similar experience, it must have been a large mental strain to feel the same loss that he had many years ago.

As she cleared her mind, she hopped out of her bed, throwing on her gear. Steve glanced over at her. "Are we leaving already?"

She smiled. "No, I just wanted to look into this place a little more."

Rogers stood up, then leaned against the wall. "Then first explain what this even is."

She paused, thinking of her answer. "It's a fallout shelter. It was designed to house occupants in case there was a nuclear attack. Spoiler alert, there was. It sounds peachy and everything, except these national vaults were built by Vault-Tec. From what I understand, each vault was intended for experiments on the occupants. Horrible, terrible experiments that completely went beyond human ethics. I'm not sure what the purpose of this one was."

"But you're from a vault. So what was your vault?"

"Vault 111 was designed to test cryogenic freezing on unwilling, unknowing participants. Similar to the way you were frozen for seventy years. Except I was frozen for over two hundred."

"I'm sorry," Rogers answered, with no hint of expression crossing his face. Typical.

Thus, the two set out into the now empty halls of the vault. When Phoenix tried to go further, however, she found that she was completely blocked in with concrete. Complete rooms on the lower floors were filled with concrete, and when she looked through windows, entire rooms were destroyed. "What the hell?" She asked herself. Rogers only stared in awe.

Eventually, when she found no hints except for the large card table in the main atrium, she came back up to the gift shop. Sarah was faithfully there, ready for any more customers. She turned around at the sound of the door opening. She smiled dutifully at them. "Hi there! Enjoy your stay?"

"Uh...yeah. I just have one question. What happened here? Why is the vault filled with concrete?" Phoenix asked.

Sarah's smiled faltered for a moment. "When Vault 21 opened its door to the strip, we found ourselves in a diplomatic situation with Mr. House, who owned the strip at the time. He wanted to fill the entire vault, my home, with concrete. Eventually, we worked out a deal where Vault 21 could be used as a hotel. I am the only remaining resident. Everyone else left."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Phoenix said, although she couldn't help but feel anger towards Vault-Tec again. "So what was the purpose of your vault?"

Sarah smiled again. "Our vault solved every problem through gambling. If anything arose, two competing residents would gamble and play cards in order to solve the issue. The winner of the game would be able to make whatever decision they were gambling over.

Phoenix paused, waiting for more. When she realized that Sarah was done, she couldn't help herself. "That's it?"

"Yeah, I know, right? I've heard about some of the other vaults. Terrible, terrible things. I was lucky to be born here."

Phoenix calmed herself down. It wasn't Sarah's issue to deal with. "Tell me about it," was all she managed.

"Thank you for letting us stay here," Steve politely thanked her before escorting Phoenix out the door. Normally, she wouldn't appreciate Rogers doing that. However, this was her exception.

She took the time that it took to walk to the Lucky 38 from Vault 21 to calm down. The warm breeze on her face and her slow breathing made her feel much more calm. She felt even better when she saw the Courier waiting for them. Her jacket whipped behind her in the wind, and her mask made her look, Phoenix was not happy to admit, like a badass.

"Wow," The Courier said. "Took you long enough."


	12. Chapter 12

As soon as Lacey had been introduced to the team, quite uncomfortably, she turned to MacCready. "I'm going to the Prydwen. I haven't seen Maxson in a while,"

MacCready nodded. "Do you want me to come with you?"

"No, I'm probably better off on my own."

She escaped out of the house, but let Dogmeat sleep in the house. She'd managed to make it out of Boston easily, having only herself to worry about. Eventually, she came across the Boston airport, only to be stopped by the guards. "Stop right there, wastelander. State your intention."

She put her hands up, but her eyebrows knitted together. "You don't know me?"

"Sorry," one man spoke.

"You came from the Capital Wasteland, didn't you?"

The man glanced over to his co guard before looking back at her. "Yes, of course."

"Does the Lone Wanderer ring any bells? I got the water purifier back up and running with Sarah Lyons. I was on the mission that destroyed Liberty Prime."

Both the guards slackened their stances. "Sorry, ma'am," the other guard, a woman, replied. "What is your business today?"

She shrugged. "I just wanted to see Maxson."

"We can alert him to your presence and-" The male started, but Lacey cut him off.

"No, I'd rather go up and see him myself, if you don't mind."

Both of the guards nodded, allowing her to pass. Lacey was grateful that the vertibird pilot recognized her, once she got to the landing pad. She didn't want to explain herself again. "Ma'am," was the simple greeting she elicited out of the pilot.

Once aboard the Prydwen, she allowed herself to feel at home again. She'd helped in the construction of the vessel, and even served a brief mission on her. It was strange to be on her, but in a complete different part of the country. She gripped the railing, staring out at the vast skyline of the Commonwealth. The wind blew her hair. She closed her eyes, and remembered what it was like to truly live. Not inside a vault, not fighting monsters. It was this. Remembering that after all that shit? Life would go on.

"Enjoying yourself?" A gruff voice asked her. When she turned, she found a familiar face.

"Maxson? Wow, don't you look older. It's been a while."

Maxson faintly smiled. "It sure has. Wasn't sure if you'd show up again, not after what happened with Lyons."

Lacey looked off to the distance. "I try to let bygones be bygones. I'm happy that you're taking this so well. You've been studying this since you were small."

Maxson joined her at the railing. "You of all people know that this isn't something you can study for."

She nodded. "I know. But I never even got that opportunity, nor did most other people."

He looked down. "The hardest part is making the life or death decisions."

She turned back to him. "What do you mean?"

"After receiving information from scouting troops, were were able to detect the Institute, as you probably are well aware. It was my decision that led us here. It may not have been me that destroyed it, but it was still part of my plans. Not to mention I had one in my ranks. A damn synth."

Lacey thought for a minute. "Have you considered that the synths aren't the problem?"

Maxson almost glared at her. "Are you sympathizing with the enemy?"

She sighed. "No, I'm just trying to level the playing field."

Maxon looked down again. "I'm sorry. Yes, I've considered it. I've considered it quite a few times, especially in the past year or two. When I found out one of my paladins was a synth, I didn't know what to do. I issued an order to kill on sight, but when one of my Knights, a close friend of his, found him...I didn't know what to do. I was outside, ready, but when they both came out I faltered. I let him go. Under the tables, of course, but I let him go. A synth."

"And do you regret that?"

"The only thing I regret is not being able to see him. He was one of my best paladins."

"Then what makes all these other synths bad? How about the Railroad?"

Maxson paused. Lacey worried that maybe she'd stepped out of line, gone too far. This was the elder, and she was an honorary knight.

"I don't really know, I guess."

This was not the answer she expected from the cold blooded and feared Elder Maxson. People in the Capital Wastes looked up to the man, a statue in their bleak lives. Yet here he was, admitting how utterly _human_ he was.

He closed his eyes. "Thank you."

Lacey took this act of gratitude and knew it meant a thousand things. "My pleasure."

* * *

The trio was only about a month into their journey. Each night, they took three hour shifts on guard duty. While Phoenix felt comfortable with Rogers on the shift, she was wary when the Courier had to take the shift. Phoenix didn't even know her name, much less could she trust her. However, she was smart enough to know that she needed sleep in order to function.

Even worse, during the day the Courier didn't like to shut up. She was always off about something. Quite frankly, it was the worst thing that Phoenix had ever encountered in the wasteland.

"Please, shut up! Nobody gives a shit about your pie obsession!" Phoenix eventually yelled at the Courier.

Rogers didn't seem too pleased about her outburst. If anything, he was probably embarrassed.

"Hey," She put her hands up. "I gave you a cheap rate for a reason. It would have cost you a few grand, each, to have someone escort you all the way across the damn country. I'll turn back now if you're going to have that kind of attitude."

Phoenix started massaging her temples. "Okay, okay. Whatever."

The Courier smirked at her. "Anyway, I thought I finally had the pie when…"

* * *

Lacey decided to stay until the team had been regrouped. She had hoped that MacCready, Stark, and Barton had been the furthest away, but it seemed that they were still missing their leader, Steve, and Phoenix, the Sole Survivor.

She couldn't say she'd met Phoenix, but she knew about her. Word spreads of heroes. Especially when she'd gone to the Publick Occurrences. The reporter, Piper Wright, was first solemn when Lacey mentioned the Soul Survivor. However, after Lacey mentioned that she was the Lone Wanderer, Piper was willing to talk if she got an interview in return.

"She was always special. Not only because she was alive before the war, that she was a vault dweller, but you could just see it in her eyes. The way she looked at things, the way she looked at people. It was like she actually gave a shit. I traveled with her sometimes. Everytime, she was always sure that I was safe. She took a bullet for me once, early into our travels. I think it was at that moment that I really understood her, and what she stood for."

"She was a vault dweller, I knew that. But she was alive before the war?"

Piper chuckled. "I guess that one doesn't get around very much, but I do have these copies of my original article," Piper said as she handed over some worn papers. "Vault 111 apparently cryogenically froze their dwellers. Besides her son, she was the sole survivor. Hence the name."

Lacey smiled. "I can't wait to meet her."

Piper had the ghost of a smile. She wanted to, Lacey could tell, but there was doubts in her mind. "She's been gone for almost two years, I think. I thought she was dead. There's no saying she's not dead right now."

Lacey shook her head. "I doubt it. If she's anything like who you say she is, she'll persevere."

Piper shook her head, bringing herself back to the room, as if she were having a daydream. "Anyway, let's focus our attention on you."

Piper proceeded to conduct a long interview, wherein Lacey detailed what exactly had made her famous across the wastes, and what she was doing nowadays. Finally, she talked about what she was doing in Diamond City, and talked about who the Avengers were.

"Most of them have already talked to me," Piper explained when Lacey got uncomfortable. "You're not breaching their privacy."

One week later, Lacey and the team read the long article Piper had written about them. It explained most everything to a T.

"God," She sighed, falling onto one of the couches. "It'd be great if they could show up soon."


	13. Chapter 13

When Phoenix saw the skyline that she knew so well, she almost collapsed. She wouldn't be lying if she said a tear sprang in her eye.

"Holy shit," The Courier said, seemingly dumbfounded at the idea of being in the Commonwealth. "I've never walked so far in my motherfucking _life_."

Phoenix smirked at her. "And how are you getting home?"

The Courier stared forward for a good minute before Phoenix was startled with a thunderous " _Fuck_ " escaping the helmet.

* * *

The Courier didn't speak again until they were at about the perimeter of Boston. Phoenix was now leading the pack, being in familiar territory. "I think I have a plan."

"Oh?" Phoenix answered, a smirk forming on the corners of her mouth.

"Yeah. I'll just live here forever. Fuck the NCR, I don't want to walk that much ever again."

Phoenix laughed. "Or I can just rent a vertibird to take you back."

The Courier stared at her in awe. "You can do that?"

She waved her arm. "I'm a Paladin in the Brotherhood of Steel. I have a little power on this side of the country."

The Courier fell to her knees, then grabbed one of Phoenix's legs. "Oh, thank you, great one!"

Phoenix kicked her leg. "What the fuck, man?"

* * *

Although Phoenix had to put the key in the lock, it was the Courier who rushed forward to kick open the door. "Hello boys!" She yelled into the house, although she knew nobody in it.

"Jesus Christ," Phoenix whispered to herself. Steve patted her back.

Soon enough, there was a large convergence of people outside of Phoenix's house. After that, people in the marketplace took notice. "Is that the General?" "That's Phoenix...I thought she was dead…" Whispers flooded the place, rumors spread.

Unsurprisingly, the news reached Piper. She considered herself a damn good reporter, and that could only happen if she had eyes and ears all over the place. Within a minute, Piper had ran from the Publick Occurrences office to Phoenix, and immediately trapped her in a bear hug. "Dammit, Blue," She whispered in her ear. Phoenix returned the hug even stronger. Piper let out a small "Oof."

Other than that, the Avengers were happy to see their leader, Rogers, once again. They had converged just outside of the house, away from the people. They had already began to formulate a plan regarding how to get home. Stark and Banner had figured out most of the details, but he needed to figure out some of the intricacies. Like supplies. And space.

"Welcome back, Cap," Natasha was the first to speak.

He sighed. "It's nice to be with the team again. Were you all in the area? How long have you waited?"

"No, Hawkeye here and I were teleported near DC."

"Thor and I appeared God-knows-where. The other guy was in control the whole time, and we moved fast. On the bright side, Kellogg's definitely dead. For good, hopefully."

Steve shook his head. "I didn't even think about that."

Nat crossed her arms. "X6 and I were nearby. We've waited for about three months. Banner and Hulk showed up soon after. MacCready, Barton, and Stark arrived about a month ago. Now you. Where were you?"

Rogers smirked. "A hell of a long ways away. Las Vegas."

"Ah, Cap, I didn't know you were a gambler!" Stark commented.

Rogers chuckled lightly. "We didn't do much gambling. We were only in Vegas for a day. Not as nice of a place here. Before that we killed a Deathclaw. I'm not excited to do that again."

"That sounds completely made up," Barton said out of the corner of his mouth.

Rogers was ready to retort when Phoenix slung her arm over his shoulder, guiding him back into the house. "Too many people," She whispered in his ear. "We need to talk in private."

As she lead him into the house, the rest of the team followed suit, including Lacey. The Courier, while everyone else was preoccupied, snatched a lone Nuka Cola Quantum from Power Noodles, storing it in one of her satchels. She entered the house whistling obnoxiously.

* * *

Phoenix had regrouped the team in a circle, adding herself. "Stark, I really hope you have a plan,"

"Somewhat. I've got the general plan, I just need the materials and space to do it."

"Done." She answered, knowing just the place.

"Done?" Banner asked.

"Yeah. Done. I know the place, I know the guy."

"Maxson," Lacey offered up, entering the discussion.

Phoenix nodded, slightly frowning at the girl. "Yeah. Him. I'm sorry, who are you?"

Lacey faintly smiled. "I'm from DC. You may have heard of me. Lone Wanderer?"

Phoenix knitted her eyebrows. "Yeah, sounds familiar. Maybe through...Three Dog?"

Lacey laughed. "Yeah, I did some work for Three Dog. How do you know about him?"

Phoenix shook her head. "Local disk jockey. Mentioned him sometimes. Sometimes we can get transmissions out here, if it's a really clear day and we use some of the nearby radio stations. He said that name, Lone Wanderer, before. I never quite knew what it meant."

"I've heard of you, for sure. I see a lot of myself in you. That's kind of weird to say, we're about the same age, but I do a lot of the same stuff you do now, or I did about ten years ago. I took an early retirement."

"Were you a vault dweller?" Phoenix asked innocently.

"Yeah, of course. You think a wastelander can have a face as pretty as mine?" Faint chuckles came from uninterested members of the group. "Kidding, just kidding. Vault 101, born and raised."

"Vault 111, frozen for two hundred and ten years."

Lacey looked sympathetic. "I heard. Anyway, enough about us, back to the Brotherhood."

Phoenix crossed her arms. "I'm not sure how willing they're going to be to help me. I didn't really invite them to blow up the Institute."

Lacey disregarded the statement. "No big deal. They still owe me a few favors."

"Favors? From the Brotherhood? You must be one hell of a soldier."

Lacey smirked. "They started to rebuild Liberty Prime, right? I saw him about a month ago."

"Yeah?"

"I was on the mission that destroyed him in the first place. I fixed a water purifier in DC for them. I even won their war for them. Maxson may have changed the direction of the Brotherhood, and I probably won't be appreciated for my previous alliance to Lyons, but I've known Maxson since he was small. You could almost say that we're friends."

"I didn't know that guy could have friends."

Lacey laughed. "He's more soft than you think."


	14. Chapter 14

Lacey eventually had to talk to the Courier. "So you're the chick from DC, huh? I heard some shit about you in New Vegas. Didn't think you would be like this."

Lacey sighed. "What, perhaps, was I like in your mind?"

The Courier paused. Was she...no, she couldn't be. But the motion amazed even the Courier's brain. She was _thinking._ Poor thing, probably never thought so hard in her life.

"You were more of a pompous asshole. Were above those you saved. Didn't give an actual shit about anyone. And yet, here you are."

"You did the same thing. Only from New Vegas. I'm not better than you."

"Wow. Look at that, that selfless shit you're doing right now. Incredible."

"Right…" Lacey trailed off.

"The difference between you and me, honey?" The Courier said, leaning in. "Is that I charge for my services."

Finally she brushed past the Lone Wanderer. Lacey shivered. God, she was weird.

* * *

Lacey, Phoenix, and Stark made the journey to the Prydwen by themselves, not needing the Brotherhood to feel crowded. Not until they agreed, anyway.

Once the trio neared the gate, the two members were easily recognized. Even though Stark was an unknown quantity, they let them pass.

"A giant balloon. Fantastic," Stark mentioned snidely.

"Whoa," Both Phoenix and Lacey both turned on him. Only Lacey continued. "This airship was built as a war machine. I suggest you don't test her."

Phoenix nodded. She was really starting to like Lacey.

Eventually, their vertibird made it onto the Prydwen, and they made their way inside. Stark, finally, understood what the Prydwen represented here. When he looked off the sides, he could see the shadow of a city. Collapsed, damaged buildings were the composition of that masterpiece.

He brought his attention back to following the ladies, in which he found himself in front of a visually intimidating man. His scars, his large coat, even his demeanor caused Tony to feel threatened. This was worse than Loki, he felt that this man would mean every word, every action. Conviction seemed to be his strong suit.

"Paladin, Honorary Knight." Maxson said, addressing the two. "I wasn't aware you both were acquainted."

"Only recently, sir," Phoenix answered formally.

"As of yesterday," Lacey added.

"Considering you brought a new face, and you both share that look, I assume you're here to request something from me."

"We're requesting assistance," Lacey started.

"It's a...long story," Phoenix finished.

Tony was tired of this. "In other words, if we're done with this military shit, I'm stuck in an alternate reality and need materials and space to figure out a way to return to my own dimension. Me and the rest of my team, that is."

No one said anything for what seemed like a full minute. Phoenix had started gritting her teeth. "What?" Was Maxson's final reply.

"Alternate reality. Not this reality?"

Maxson scowled at him. "I know what an alternate reality is, wastelander. So what are you asking of me?"

"Electricity, steel, copper, aluminum alloy, a few radioactive materials, and about twenty square feet of space."

Another pause from Maxson, albeit brief. "That's it?"

Tony nodded. "Yeah. Probably."

"You're asking if I'll supervise the building of a machine that is capable of teleporting people to an alternate dimension, and all your asking for is a little space and some junk?"

"And," Phoenix jumped in. "We're asking that you don't exploit this. No using it for your own personal gain. Keep it off record, in case things get fishy."

"Like if another Enclave resistance rose up," Lacey said, knowing that this would strike a chord with the Elder.

"I'll alert personnel to gather supplies and clear space," was Maxson's final reply.

* * *

The Courier had no desire to make her way back to New Vegas anytime soon. In fact, she didn't even bother reminding Phoenix about her promise. She'd basically dropped off the radar. She still showed up at night, and she slept in Phoenix's house, but she did her own thing during the day.

It was a strange feeling for her. She was tied down, yet so free. She was relying on Phoenix to get her back home, but the feeling of being so far away really settled in her system. The longer she was in the Commonwealth, the further she got from Diamond City. When she made it to Lexington, she'd realized she'd gone further than intended, but was happy to find somewhere new. It was obvious that Phoenix had blown through this area, but mold always had a way of crawling back. Especially in the old Corvega factory, wherein she found a holed up group of raiders. They'd obviously not been there long, but she really enjoyed taking them out. It was a way for her to console her endless, boring existence.

She'd wished she'd brought Rex with her. Although Rex wasn't technically _hers_ , the King would have been more than happy to let his companion enjoy the wonders of cross country travel.

At least, she assumed. And besides, both Phoenix and Lacey had their own dogs. Though, she did find it quite strange that they were both named Dogmeat. But hey, beggars can't be choosers. Anyway, both dwellers said that they didn't choose the name, and that it simply came with the canine.

Sounded like bullshit to her, but it wasn't really her business.

She sighed, standing from her crouching position. The man she'd been looting was horribly disfigured, thanks to the incendiary modification she added to her sniper rifle. While the bullet would have easily mauled his face, the bullets had the added surprise of mortifyingly burning whomever caught the projectile.

She slung the rifle across her shoulders, carrying it like one would carry buckets of water. She'd really missed doing this.


	15. Chapter 15

Maxson was sure to oversee every action that Banner and Stark exerted. It was starting to get on Stark's nerves, but he couldn't quite tell the guy to do something else. Besides, from what he understood, the Brotherhood wasn't exactly needed in this area anymore. Their mission, albeit completed by someone else, was successfully completed.

Still, Banner didn't seem to mind, so he wasn't going to let his discomfort get to him.

It was truly a struggle for the man.

However, they were nearly finished with the project. Maxson did follow up on his word and did supply them with anything they required, and even supplied food during mid-day. It was a simple bowl of noodles, but both men were thankful they weren't given any of that weird meat or two hundred year old junk food.

Sometimes Phoenix would stop by, after doing God-knows-what, and would deliver fresh fruit. She said it was from one of her settlements, and Stark had to appreciate the fresh, cold, even _clean_ fruit. She'd said that what he ate was called a mutfruit. He tried not to dwell on whatever that meant.

This time, when Phoenix showed up, she was covered in blood. This didn't seem out of the ordinary to her, but paused when she saw the way the two Avengers looked at her. "What?" She asked.

Banner waved his wrench at her general direction. "Where did all that blood come from?"

She looked down, as if she were completely unaware of how it stained her armor. "Oh, that. I ran into some ghouls between Kingsport and here. Not a big deal."

"Not a big deal…" Stark muttered, returning to his work. Phoenix flared with a spark of anger, but carefully subsided it. In no way was it Stark's fault for not understanding her life, or what lived out here. However, she did feel as if she were being disrespected.

"Anyway," She said, tossing a sack off her shoulder. "I brought some more food. I figured you might want to try this before you go home."

Much to Stark's dismay, it was a sack filled with an assortment of meat. "Uh, no thanks," Stark said after one glance.

Phoenix glared. "You can't live off of noodles and fruit, Stark. Trust me, I've tried. And that was with stimpacks."

Stark lightly groaned, whereas Banner had already come forward. Phoenix spread the food out and set them on dishes, as if that would make them more appealing. "Let's start with Brahmin steak," She said, picking up the plate that looked like beef. "I can't even tell the difference between this and unmutated cow meat."

Tony did, contrarily, find a difference in the meat. However, it wasn't as bad as he initially presumed. Banner nodded his head, also agreeing with the meat.

"This one," Phoenix said. "Is mirelurk meat. It tastes a lot like crab."

Tony did enjoy seafood. When he tried the meat, it wasn't bad. It tasted almost like a mixture between lobster and crab, which he didn't find disgusting in the slightest. In fact, he actually really liked that.

Phoenix went through the plates. Molerat, deathclaw, even some wolf, but Tony had to stop when it came to the last plate.

"Bloatfly?" Banner asked, his demeanor suggesting he wanted nothing to do with the dish set in front of him.

Stark simply pushed it away. "That's where I draw the line."

Even at this, Phoenix was not upset. She simply shrugged. "That's okay. Not many people try it, but not many people know how good it is, either. I just thought you might want to try the best meat around…"

This was stupid. Stark shouldn't have been so idiotic. Banner wasn't, he still refused to eat it. However, Stark hadn't been doing bad so far, so when she said it was delicious, he took a bite.

That was probably the worst mistake Stark made that day. A pungent odor soon exploded in his mouth, reminding him too much of feces. He spit it out on the floor, soon vomiting up some other meats he had tried. He felt nauseous.

Phoenix had rolled onto her back she was laughing so hard, and even Banner cracked a smile at Stark's unfortunate taste test gone wrong.

"Wow, I'm glad you both find this so funny. Thank you, Phoenix, now I can really concentrate on my work, huh?"

"Actually," Banner interjected. "I think we're finished. Over the next week we'll need to run some tests, but otherwise I think we have it."

Phoenix grinned. "Awesome! Make sure that nobody can start the machine without some authorization. We don't need any initiates having fun tonight."

"They can have the bloatfly meat," Tony said, waving his hand. Banner and Phoenix started laughing again.


	16. Chapter 16

After a week, both Banner and Stark felt confident that they had gotten the machine correct. After sending a phone, set to take pictures at it's destination, had returned with promising pictures, they decided it was time for human experimentation.

At first, Banner volunteered, but was quickly denied due to his...condition. Even Phoenix and Lacey volunteered, but they were shot down.

Eventually, the team settled on Tony getting the honor of testing it out. Even the Courier testified against this, however much she enjoyed seeing the drama unfolding. However, the Avengers were all in agreement, and the wastelanders couldn't force their opinion. They'd decided to send him without armor, just in case it messed up the machine. Everyone waited with baited breaths. After a minute, they brought Tony back, who had a huge grin on his face.

"It worked," He said, and the Avengers cheered. Phoenix smiled. While she was happy for them, she couldn't help but feel sad. She'd spent so much time with these people, and now they were leaving her. She hated goodbyes, and she hated how much family she seemed to be losing recently.

As if sensing her sadness, both the Courier and Lacey slung their arms over her shoulders. Even the two of them didn't always see eye to eye, they got along to comfort the Sole Survivor.

Their victory was short lived. Suddenly, alarms started to go off at the airport. Brotherhood soldiers were running towards the front gate. Both Lacey and Phoenix shot up, weapons in hand. The Courier looked like she couldn't care less, although Romanoff saw her reach for her sniper rifle. The Avengers, ready to go home, had brought all of their stuff and gear, but were now using that stuff to prep for battle.

The Courier carefully rearranged the gift basket that Lacey, Phoenix, MacCready, and Piper had put together. It had some Nuka Colas, Nuka Cola Quantums, and someone even threw in a mini nuke, as well as some other odds and ends so that the team would remember their journey, as if they would forget. The Courier took this opportunity to stash a shit ton of drugs in the basket. The group initially disagreed with the concept, but they were too busy to stop her now. Jet, Buffout, even Med-X. She then left a note.

 _420, Blaze It_

She didn't really know what that meant, but she'd heard Barton whisper that to Romanoff at one point. She then included a shitty drawing of her helmet on the note. Perfect.

After her escapade, she stood up, rifle in hand. When she looked into the distance, she saw something coming closer, or more accurately, some things.

"Super mutants," Phoenix turned around, explaining to the group. At once, gunfire exploded from both the mutants and the Brotherhood.

While the Avengers ducked for cover, the wastelanders and Brotherhood stood their ground. They were holding the front line fairly well, but soon enough some of the super mutants were close enough to take some swings with their melee weapons. Phoenix blocked a board coming her way, pushing back. As soon as she could move her weapon the other way, she blasted the super mutant in the chest. After that, she rushed over to the team, pulling Rogers up by the collar of his suit. "You need to get out of here. _Now._ We'll hold them off, but I can't guarantee that your machine will survive this."

Rogers nodded, and Phoenix let him go. It wasn't as if she were really holding him, but Rogers was pretty good at listening.

"Maiden, what if we wish to return here? It was an honor to meet you, but what say we wish to visit you again?" Thor asked.

Phoenix reached down, grabbing the basket that her and Lacey made for them. "You have this. You can remember me with this. If you want to come back?" She asked, winking at Stark. "Then you know where to find me."

Rogers grabbed her hand, a sign of gratitude, but only for a second. In the next, the Avengers were jogging towards the teleporter. Barton had grabbed the basket.

However, a super mutant must have broken through the front line. He'd made a beeline for the brightly dressed people. The Avengers, too late, noticed the monster running towards them. They paused as Stark was about to be struck by a super sledge. It took only a few seconds for Phoenix to react, and she didn't even think before she did. She only knew that Stark would not survive that blow, not without his suit, which was already resting near the platform.

She threw herself in front of Stark, feeling the sledge connect with her armor, probably damaging some internal organs and definitely breaking some ribs. She screamed, probably the highest pitched scream in her life. The super mutant was dead before he could strike again.

She curled into the fetal position. In slow motion, her eyes picked up the blurry image of Lacey running towards her. She waved her hand, motioning for the Avengers to go. Lacey kneeled over her, shielding her as she continued to shoot.

Phoenix rolled over just the smallest amount, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw the Avengers, then a bright flash. Then, no Avengers. A second after Phoenix saw that they weren't standing there anymore, the machine exploded.

They had made it.

She breathed a sigh of relief, immediately regretting it as she felt pain overcome her. A few seconds later, she passed out.

* * *

Phoenix woke up a few days later on her bunk in the Prydwen. She seemed to be alone, she noticed as she cracked open her eyes. Before moving, she threw the thin sheets off of her body, then looked at her stomach. Her stomach looked scarred, like she was cut open. More than likely a result of internal bleeding. Otherwise, her upper torso was wrapped tightly in gauze, probably to help set her ribs.

She groaned, letting her head fall back onto the pillow. God, she was lucky.

* * *

Later that day, probably only an hour later, Lacey and the Courier showed up, almost surprised to see her not only awake, but just simply laying there.

Lacey rushed over, dropping to her knees. "Whoa, what's wrong?" She asked.

Phoenix scowled. "What?"

Now, Lacey seemed just as confused as Phoenix. "You're not moving. How long have you been up?"

Phoenix shrugged, which wasn't her best choice. She hid her grimace. "I don't know. I'm not moving because I know that that would be a stupid idea."

Lacey picked up the sheet from the floor, throwing it back onto the half naked woman. "At least have some decency, then, huh?"

Phoenix stuck her tongue out, and this seemed to be enough for Lacey to smile.

"You're a fucking idiot," The Courier said, the first time she had said anything since Phoenix passed out.

"Excuse me?" Lacey said, anger tinting her voice.

"You're a fucking idiot. You could have done anything that didn't involve you almost killing yourself for a guy you don't even know. Fucking...stupid."

While Phoenix first didn't understand the Courier's outburst, she knew now why she was saying this. She noticed how shiny her eyes were getting. "Aw, man, would you be sad if I died?" She asked sincerely.

The Courier, unlikely to share emotions, quickly turned her demeanor around. "No, I just need you to take me back to Vegas. Ha, I sure got you, huh?" She asked, although she didn't seem too into her own joke.

Phoenix winced as she tried adjusting her body better. Fuck, this sucked. "Yeah, I might need to get on that soon. Probably when I can move again."

"Whatever, I'm fucking hungry," The Courier said as she turned around, heading back downstairs.

Lacey lightly smiled. "She cares," she said to Phoenix, although she was still looking at the now empty staircase.

Phoenix smiled at the ceiling of the Prydwen. "I know."

* * *

The Avengers were silent when they arrived back on earth. Tony looked shell shocked. He'd come so close to death, only for someone else to step in front of him. It was a bizarre feeling. Although he knew he had many fans, especially after the incident, he never thought someone would be willing to risk their life for him. Not like that.

After a few minutes of milling about, Stark entered his suit. It was a little dinged up, but she made it okay. Barton walked up to him, handing him the basket. "Take this to the tower, we'll share later."

Tony clutched the basket, thinking of Phoenix smiling. A bright smile in a dingy world. He recalled meeting her for the first time, a strange girl who had threatened the team. An intuition that Tony never expected to take him this far.

The Avengers split up, heading their separate ways. Luckily, they had arrived in an empty field. Thor called to Heimdal, Stark flew home, and the rest of the Avengers walked, cursing their lack of flight.

Weeks later, the Avengers held a meeting with Fury to discuss what had happened. Tony, however, still seemed distant.

When asked about his participation, he stood up suddenly, as if just getting the inspiration to do something. "I'm going to find a way to get back." He announced, turning around to go to his lab. "I need to see her again. I need to know if she's alive."

Steve called his name, but Stark did not return to the meeting room. Stark was bound determined. He was going to see her again.

 **Fin**


End file.
